I always do this with the MS Office folder, so that I don't have to have 4 ugly Microsoft icons crowding up my dock.

Reply

I do something similar, I place my Applications and Documents folders in the Dock, as well as a folder for Adobe CS2 and some of the XCode developer tools. In my Documents folder I also have aliases for Microsoft Office and iWork, just to make it a little easier. You can also right- or control-click on the drive/folder and the same menu pops up.

Reply

I just use Quicksilver

Reply

I have always put the Applications folder in the Dock.

I find it useful for launching applications, although I use it less now that I have Quicksilver installed.

Reply

I think this kind of posts will do the site good. Tips are always welcome!

Reply

I used to use this method (actually, my Home and Applications dirs are still sitting in my dock, just untouched). I sometimes drag downloaded apps from my desktop into the Applications shortcut on my dock. But for accessing inside, the delay in loading up the pop-up menu killed it for me, even on the fastest G4 powerbook. I now use QuickSilver for launching items that aren't already one-click away (even ones that are, if I don't want to reach for the mouse).

Reply

I screwed up- Help! I went into Finder to drag my HD down, and accidentally deleted it. How do I get it back?

Reply

Great Freaking tip!

I keep my Applications folder down there, so I don't have to drill down to find an app that I don't want in the dock.

This gives me a few ideas to clean up my dock.

Shane

Reply

Thanks for the tip, but one question. Why do I get 2 extra items in my list?
"mach" and "mach.sym"? What are those and can i get them to not show up?
thanks.

Reply

Scott, I assume your hard-drive icon still lives on your desktop okay? If not, you probably dragged it into the trash, just drag it out again by clicking on the trash in your dock.

If you mean that you dragged the link out of the sidebar in your finder, you can get it back by dragging the desktop hard-drive icon into any Finder sidebar window, up above the separator line, and it should be back in place.

If it's some other disappearance, let us know, and we'll get it back.

This is one of the major items that needs help in the Finder. There are too many aliases and links that aren't first-class representations of their real object. And to make matters worse, they don't look like links, so it's hard to tell what the behavior will be when you move things between the desktop, sidebar, dock, Finder toolbar, etc.

Reply

I also put my home and applications folders in my dock, it's also usefull to quickly drop files and apps to these folder just by dragging them.
(a shame the tree does not expand when you drag a file.)

Reply

Better yet, if you dont want all your HD contents or all Applications to show, just make a new folder and put aliases of all the stuff you want to have in there, then select a comfy icon for the folder and drag it to your dock. Voila, its yer own menu there.

Personally as a graphical artist i have all GFX related apps like that in the dock, menu loads up fast and is quite handy, also the icon is cool :D

Reply

It's so obvious - yet i never thought of doing that - doh! Thanks!

Reply

I wanted to add that, once the list pops up, typing the first few characters will jump to the item you want, just like in the Finder. This is handy if, for instance, you have a long list of items in your Applications folder. Type "v" and the focus will jump to the end of the list, in my case to the VLC app. Hitting "return" will open the folder, app, or whatever is selected.

Reply

After the Intel chip, the "Start" menu... :]

Reply

Scott, open preferences in Finder, go to the "Sidebar" pane and check off "Hard Disks". When you drag an item from the sidebar, Finder assumes you want to remove it. If you want the hard drive in your Dock but don't have it displayed on your desktop, you will need to enable it from the "General" pane in Finder preferences. After you have placed in on your Dock you can remove it from your desktop again.

Reply

Rather than putting the applications folder in the dock I just changed Finder or open up the applications folder when it opens everytime. One less item on the dock.

Reply

Not to come off like an A$$ or anything. But wouldn't it make sense to make the category "Tips" then go back and tag CK's "Tiger Tips", "Terminal Tips", and "Switcher Tips" with the new category?
Gee, maybe then we could have a subdomain like tips.tuaw.com which would be perfect for an RSS subscription.
Just an idea.
...I thought you might have already planned that so I tried the URL above and noticed "Coming soon." But then I realized it says the same thing for porn.tuaw.com. Unless you're working on that too!!!! - one could only hope

Reply

Personally, I prefer to have my Home folder instead of the HD. It contains a lot more of the files that I use on a regular basis. The main reason I ever use the HD is to access my Applications and I have that sitting right next to my Home.

This is just my personal taste, but it is grood (great AND good) to see the dock getting some love!

=aron=

Reply

I do this and have even used it on occasion. For the applications folder trick to be of any use, you either need to have a fast processor or a small Applications folder. If, like me, you're both running a mini and are addicted to downloading freeware, it's not such a good idea. ;-)

In any case, count me among the number who use Quicksilver almost exclusively for launching apps and opening and moving files. Mice are so 80s.

I look forward to future installments.

Reply